ELECTORATES have a chance again in 2016 to vote out underperforming parliamentarians who now want to get back to their constituencies to solicit for votes yet they have not done anything since 2011, the Gallant Youth of Zambia (GYZ) has charged.

GYZ executive director Henry Mulenga told the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that Zambia had remained under-developed because of some insincere and dishonesty members of Parliament whose only preoccupation was to make a fortune out of the poor electorates whom they lured for votes even when they had not done anything.

Mr. Mulenga said if MPs were sincere, Zambia would not have been what it is today saying the current state of affairs was a reflection of politicians’ unwillingness to live up to the expectations of the people who put them into office.

He said it was sad to see MPs who had never set foot in their constituencies going round distributing money and campaign materials and coming up with new lies when they failed to honour other promises they made previously.

Mr Mulenga said there was need for politicians to conduct themselves in a responsible and selfless manner by realising that the offices they occupied were not a right and that people had the capacity to think otherwise when they realised that they were being duped by politicians.

“Most of these politicians who are touring their constituencies now are only doing so because they know that elections are near. They are peddling the same lies they gave in 2011 which subsequently ushered them into office. However, we as GYZ, think that there should be decency in the way they conduct themselves as politicians.

“Most constituencies have remained underdeveloped yet the same MP are being re-elected every five years even when they are not doing anything to alleviate the problems that people are facing. This kind of selfishness is what has made Zambia lag in terms of development,” he said.

Mr Mulenga challenged the electorates to realise that they had the power to change their lives by using their vote effectively by choosing leaders who would put their interest first because they were a serious stakeholder in the running of national affairs.

He said the electorates should change the mind-set of voting on party or tribal lines but consider the best candidates who could steer development in their constituencies because party and tribal patronage had devastating effects on their livelihoods as it had robbed them of their basic needs as the people they were electing did not have their interest at heart.